DAY TRIP TO ROUEN AS PROPOSED TO OUR FRIEND BP-AL (By Moi
)
Last Month, our Friend Al wanted my suggestions regarding a day trip to Rouen with about 5 hours to spend on location; this is what I suggested to him.
First, I will propose a short tour of Rouen making the most of it in this short time frame. Please use the Rouen center of town street map at this address:
http://www.mairie-rouen.fr/pdf/plan_rouen_centre.pdf When blown up to 400%, it provides all the points of interest fairly well depicted, and the name of the streets is very readable.
Also note the "Blue Subway Line" it may be useful during your tour.
Of course you can also use the “Mappy Program” or others if you like.
I am also adding the address of a Rouen visitors Website with the “Must see” sights in Rouen and the history behind it:
http://www.jack-travel.com/Normandy/rouen_...y_and_ww_ii.htm1) As you come out of "Gare Rue Verte" Railroad Station, proceed straight South towards Rue Jeanne d'Arc. You will have to cross a large Boulevard and be careful doing so, be sure to follow the pedestrian’s walk that makes zigzags. The traffic is bad, and the Rouen motorists are a bunch of maniacs. (I know, I used to be one of them)
2) Stay on the left side of Rue Jeanne d'Arc and start looking on your left; you will see the Joan of Arc tower located Rue du Donjon. This tower is what is left of an old castle where Joan was imprisoned. Not much to see inside other than a good overlook of the City after climbing a lot of steps, but it is kind of interesting just walking around the tower.
Observe the drawbridge, and look inside the moat you will see genuine canon balls from the “Middle Ages”.
Also note the camouflage paint on the tower; it was done by the Germans in WW2. This area was “bad news” during the war, the Germans tortured a lot of people there, and the Gestapo and SS building was just across the street from the tower.
3) Return to Rue Jeanne d'Arc and continue on the left side. You will reach Square Verdrel where the Museum of fine art is located,
4) Turning left on Rue Jean Le Canuet you will also find the Secq des Tournelles museum. It is a museum dedicated to antique iron works some of it dating way back even before the Middle Ages.
There is a lot to see in those two museums, but it is very time consuming, and the visits should perhaps only be considered at the end of the journey if time still permits.
5) Return to Rue Jeanne d'Arc and continue on the left side, you will see the Palais de Justice. It was nearly totally demolished during the war, and you still can see the bomb shrapnel scars all over the front side.
Walk around the Palace and you will see signs directing you to the Jewish Monument.
6) Cross Rue Jeanne d'Arc and take Rue Rollon (Named for Rollo the Viking who changed his name to Rollon when he became Duke of Normandy) this street will take you to the Place du Vieux Marché area where the famed “La Couronne” restaurant and oldest Inn in France is located. On Place du Vieux Marché, there is also the exact spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, the Joan of Arc Museum, and the Sainte Jeanne d'Arc modern ugly Church in the shape of a boat upside down...However, the glass work inside is beautiful, it was rescued from the Saint Vincent church before being 100% destroyed by the bombings.
7) From Place du Vieux Marché go East on Rue du Gros Horloge, probably the most visited street in Rouen.
If you are hungry, you will find a couple of sandwich shops on the right side of the street just before passing the big clock.
The Gros Horloge survived the war, although much was destroyed all around it.
There are a lot of neat shops on the left and right side of the street, as well as in the other streets branching off Rue du Gros Horloge.
A little further up the street on the left almost directly across from the Monoprix department store, there is a plaque at a street corner indicating the birthplace of Cavalier de La Salle, the guy that claimed the Louisiana territory for France. (Good God, did Bonaparte ever screw up)
8) Continue Eastbound Rue du Gros Horloge and it will take you to the Cathedral. That's where Richard the Lion Hearted's heart is buried along with other important historical persons.
Of course, the cathedral is a must see, being repudiated to be the most beautiful Cathedral in France according to some.
9) Take Rue Saint Romain located on the left side (North side) of the Cathedral. It is an old Medieval, very narrow Street, and you will be transported way back in time. On the right side, you will see the oldest house in Rouen; it was also spared during the heavy bombing that destroyed everything all around it. Then, look up on the right; you can see the “slits” on the wall of the Archbishop's Palace used by the Archers of Medieval times.
(Watch where you walk Rue Saint Romain, the street is too narrow for the dog poop patrol vehicles.)
10) Cross Rue de la Republique and it will take you to Saint Maclou Church. Saint Maclou was badly damaged during the war, and at one time after the liberation there were talk about bulldozing it down.
11) On the left side of Saint Maclou you will find Rue Martainville, and if you are still hungry, you will find several small restaurants, probably your last chance to eat a bite before heading back to the train station.
12) You are now Rue Martainville and look on your left; you will see the sign "Aitre Saint Maclou."
Enter the courtyard through the old coach doors, (no you are not lost), keep on going and find this peaceful place. Be sure to read about it before going to Rouen, there is lots of history about “Aitre Saint Maclou”.
13) Out the Aitre Saint Maclou, backtrack Westbound Rue Martainville and turn right on Rue Damiette almost across from the Church.
It is a street with many old antique shops.
14) Continue Rue Damiette through Place du Lieutenant Aubert and you will see the huge Saint Ouen Abbatial directly in front of you. It is worth going inside if you have time but it closes from 12 to 2 PM for lunch.
Walk around the Jardin, Old Rollo the Viking's statue is there along with an old prehistoric engraved stone nearby.
15) Go around the West side of Saint Ouen and you will now be Place de l'Hotel de Ville. A statue of Napoleon riding his horse is there and it is the only statue that the German did not melt during the war, since "Uncle Adolf" loved the arrogant little Corsican Corporal.
16) If you still have some time left, consider now visiting the Secq Des Tournelles Museum if you did not do it earlier, From Place de l’Hotel de Ville, turn left on Rue Jean Le Canuet, the museum is a short distance on the right.
17) You must now check the time, and think about going back to the Railroad station perhaps, depending on your train schedule.
If you must head that way, take Rue Jean Le Canuet and go West until Rue Jeanne d'Arc and go back North to Gare Rue Verte.
There is a whole lot more to see and more history about Rouen and vicinity. In the Countryside remnants of the Viking era can be seen. Rouen and Normandy was indeed “Viking Territory”; they were a rough bunch before becoming “Civilized”, so much in fact that the end of the “Lord’s prayer” of the era went something like this:
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us and deliver us from the Vikings…Amen”.
End of the short tour of Rouen, it is the town where I grew up and lived in good and bad times….
A bit of History and photos of Rouen 60 years ago:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=f...angpair=fr%7Cen 
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, and it sure was difficult "to soar like an eagle during the day" 
But, I have been told that during the heat wave there was a lot of "skinny-dipping in "Fontaine Sainte Marie" 
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